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Clifford J. Tabin

Ph.D.

Chairman, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

George Jacob and Jacqueline Hazel Leder Professor of Genetics

Dr. Cliff Tabin is Chair of the Department Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and a pioneer developmental biologist.

The common theme of Dr. Tabin's research investigations has been an attempt to understand “pattern formation", how the organization of an embryo arises during its development.  His efforts are responsible for our current understanding of such embryological questions as why the leg is different in form from the arm, and why the heart is on the left and not the right, as well as evolutionary questions such as understanding the genetic basis for the differences in the shapes of the beaks of different species of Darwin's Finches in the Galapagos Islands.

In addition to his research program, Dr. Tabin has had a major involvement in education efforts at Harvard Medical School, teaching embryology and genetics to both the medical students and the graduate students.  He has also played a leadership role in recent wide-ranging medical education reform at Harvard.  Additionally, Dr. Tabin has utilized his expertise in this area to assist the development of a new medical school in Nepal.

Dr. Tabin was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007. Among his many honors, he received the National Academy of Sciences Award in 1999; the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2008; elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2010; received the Conklin Medal from the Society for Developmental Biology in 2012, received a ScD honoris causa degree from Union College, Schenectady, New York; asked to present the Harvey Lecture in 2012, and was elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London in 2014.

Dr. Tabin completed his graduate studies in Biology at MIT in 1984, studying oncogenes with Bob Weinberg.  He has been on the faculty in the HMS Department of Genetics since 1989.  He has been a Full Professor since 1997 and was appointed Chairman of the Department in January 2007.

Clifford J. Tabin

Ph.D.

Chairman, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

George Jacob and Jacqueline Hazel Leder Professor of Genetics

Dr. Cliff Tabin is Chair of the Department Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and a pioneer developmental biologist.

The common theme of Dr. Tabin's research investigations has been an attempt to understand “pattern formation", how the organization of an embryo arises during its development.  His efforts are responsible for our current understanding of such embryological questions as why the leg is different in form from the arm, and why the heart is on the left and not the right, as well as evolutionary questions such as understanding the genetic basis for the differences in the shapes of the beaks of different species of Darwin's Finches in the Galapagos Islands.

In addition to his research program, Dr. Tabin has had a major involvement in education efforts at Harvard Medical School, teaching embryology and genetics to both the medical students and the graduate students.  He has also played a leadership role in recent wide-ranging medical education reform at Harvard.  Additionally, Dr. Tabin has utilized his expertise in this area to assist the development of a new medical school in Nepal.

Dr. Tabin was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007. Among his many honors, he received the National Academy of Sciences Award in 1999; the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2008; elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization in 2010; received the Conklin Medal from the Society for Developmental Biology in 2012, received a ScD honoris causa degree from Union College, Schenectady, New York; asked to present the Harvey Lecture in 2012, and was elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London in 2014.

Dr. Tabin completed his graduate studies in Biology at MIT in 1984, studying oncogenes with Bob Weinberg.  He has been on the faculty in the HMS Department of Genetics since 1989.  He has been a Full Professor since 1997 and was appointed Chairman of the Department in January 2007.

Recent Publications

Direct reprogramming of non-limb fibroblasts to cells with properties of limb progenitors

Published On 2024 Feb 06

Journal article

The early limb bud consists of mesenchymal limb progenitors derived from the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM). The LPM also gives rise to the mesodermal components of the flank and neck. However, the cells at these other levels cannot produce the variety of cell types found in the limb. Taking advantage of a direct reprogramming approach, we find a set of factors (Prdm16, Zbtb16, and Lin28a) normally expressed in the early limb bud and capable of imparting limb progenitor-like properties to mouse...


Homology and the evolution of vocal folds in the novel avian voice box

Published On 2024 Jan 06

Journal article

The origin of novel traits, those that are not direct modifications of a pre-existing ancestral structure, remains a fundamental problem in evolutionary biology. For example, little is known about the evolutionary and developmental origins of the novel avian vocal organ, the syrinx. Located at the tracheobronchial junction, the syrinx is responsible for avian vocalization, but it is unclear whether avian vocal folds are homologous to the laryngeal vocal folds in other tetrapods or convergently...